A radical route from methane to methanol

Abstract

Catalysis The conversion of methane into chemicals usually proceeds through high-temperature routes that first form more reactive carbon monoxide and hydrogen. Agarwal et al. report a low-temperature (50°C) route in aqueous hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) for oxidizing methane to methanol in high yield (92%). They used colloidal gold-palladium nanoparticles as a catalyst. The primary oxidant was O2; isotopic labeling showed that H2O2 activated methane to methyl radicals, which subsequently incorporated O2. Science , this issue p. [223][1] [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aan6515